The digital currency (CBDC) issued by Nigeria’s central bank needs better received by the country’s savvy crypto community. A year after the launch of the government-issued digital currency, the eNaira, less than 0.5% of Nigeria’s 217 million people are said to be using it, according to a Bloomberg report.
Despite Nigeria being ranked 11th globally and first in Africa for crypto adoption by Chainalysis, 35% of Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 60 reported owning or trading cryptocurrencies this year, according to a KuCoin report. According to Bloomberg, Nigerians have been intrigued due to the state’s lack of clarification following its recent crackdown on cryptocurrencies.
A CBDC may be challenging for many Nigerians due to the naira’s six-time devaluation since 2015 and economists’ predictions of a 20% loss in value next year due to the economy’s continued deterioration due to escalating inflation.
According to the report, the central bank of Nigeria is now stepping up attempts to encourage adoption in response to the unsatisfactory results, including providing a 5% discount to operators and riders of the motorized rickshaws that travel the city’s streets.
To drop the fiat, the Central Bank of Nigeria forbade banks from providing services to cryptocurrency exchanges in February 2021. According to the research, a challenge for the central bank has been educating individuals typically suspicious of the government and the ruling class.
The eNaira project launched its second phase in August, according to announcements made by Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Nigerian Central Bank, with an eight million user adoption target.
He stated that the CBDC has seen roughly 840,000 downloads and 270,000 active wallets. Around 200,000 transactions totaling 4 billion naira, or around $9.5 million at the time, had been made by August. Nigeria is one of eleven nations that have completely implemented a central bank digital currency, according to the Atlantic Council’s CBDC tracker.